Campaigns

Recent Campaigns

On August 27, Majority Action published original research demonstrating significant issues of concern regarding governance issues at American Outdoor Brands Corporation (AOBC), the owner of Smith & Wesson — one of the largest gun manufacturers in the country. Our focus was on undisclosed conflicts of interest on the board of directors and undisclosed political spending to gun lobby groups, including the NRA.

On September 25th at AOBC's annual meeting, the shareholder resolution supported by Majority Action, calling for monitoring and reporting on gun violence related to the company's products, won a majority of the vote.

Over 95,000 Majority Action and partner members participated in the supporting online action.

Partners:

Past Campaigns

On May 2nd & 3rd, Majority Action published two pieces of original research demonstrating racism, right-wing extremism, and conflicts related to the NRA, within the board at Sturm, Ruger, & Co. — the largest gun manufacturers in the country.

Over 118,000 Majority Action and partner members participated in the supporting online action.

Partners:

Gun Manufacturers

Gun manufacturers could be doing so much more to contribute to gun safety: investing in safer gun technology, monitoring their distribution chain, and telling gun lobby groups they fund to support universal background checks and federal funding for gun safety research. But, they don’t—and there’s a reason. There was a moment in 2000 when Smith & Wesson attempted to take steps to transform itself into a more responsible company—in response, the NRA ran a campaign that nearly bankrupted them. So we have a situation where gun manufacturers use shareholders’ money to fund the very organization, the NRA, that not only undermines gun safety, not only promotes racism and cultural warfare, but would seek to destroy the gun manufacturers if they ever tried to be more socially responsible.

All of this creates perverse incentives for gun manufacturers, which undermines long-term prospects for investors. Gun manufacturer profits are deeply tied to short-term cycles of what’s known as “fear-based sales”—customers buying guns in fear that those same products will be further regulated in the future. Furthermore, the manufacturers refuse to invest in gun safety technology, even though a recent survey showed that 59 percent of Americans and 43 percent of gun owners say they would want those products. In no other industry are companies literally unwilling to pursue a potential market through safety innovation because their own advocacy organization would try to destroy them. All of this squanders potential shareholder value for the long term.

Gun manufacturer need boards of directors that can provide the leadership, independence, and long-term orientation needed to successfully navigate these complex issues. Unfortunately, Majority Action’s due diligence on gun manufacturer directors has revealed many substantial gaps in disclosures, independence, and judgement. The largest investment managers in the world, firms like BlackRock and Vanguard, have outsized ownership at gun manufacturers like Sturm Ruger and Smith and Wesson, giving them outsized votes on who should serve on their boards of directors. These fund managers have particular responsibility to use their influence to hold gun manufacturer boards accountable.